Natural Disasters in South Asia
Flooding
What Areas Are Most Prone To Flooding?
- Pakistan, 2,953 ft. Average Elevation
- India, 525 ft. Average Elevation
- Bangladesh, 85 ft. Average Elevation
- Sri lanka, 748 ft. Average Elevation
- Maldives, 6 ft. Average Elevation
Because of their low elevation Sri Lanka and the Maldives are very prone to flooding but they have not suffered an extreme flood in the past few years so they are not in need of much assistance. In Bangladesh their has been a major flood in 2004 and 2012 but a lot of work is already being done their to support them because they have been hit so hard . In India their has been millions of people displaced from flooding but it is very hard to support them because of how spread out they are.
In Pakistan their has been major flooding every year since 2010 so millions of people have been displaced and there has not been much support for them. And the areas of low elevation and flood zones are not extremely spread out so it would be manageable to really provide them major disaster relief. Because of this I think that Pakistan will be the best place for us to provide disaster relief. I understand that India and Bangladesh have both suffered more from flooding than Pakistan but they have also received a much larger amount of aid because of that.
Elevation Map of South Asia
Elevation map of Pakistan
Top 15 Countries Affected by flooding
What Should We Focus on in Pakistan? Where In Pakistan Should We Focus?
What Should We Focus on in Pakistan?
Pakistan's Federal Flood Commission and government as a whole is doing a lot to pass legislation to help mitigate Flooding disasters in the future and seem to have the funding to implement it. You can check that out here: http://www.dawn.com/news/1197349. Because of that we really need to focus on helping the people in Pakistan who have been displaced by Natural Disasters.Where In Pakistan Should We Focus?
People all over Pakistan have been displaced. Especially in Sindh and Punjab Pakistan. In Sindh there was already 454 relief camps established for the 975,470 people who were displaced. But in Punjab there has been 0 relief camps established for 463,902 people who were displaced during that same period of time. Of the entire Punjab area the city that has been affected the most is Muzafargarh and it is coincidentally the largest city in the area with a population of 3.826 Million. Because of that I suggest that we specifically focus our efforts there.
Areas In Punjab That Have Been Affected
People in Muzafargarh Affected by Flooding
People in Muzafargarh Affected by Flooding.
Culture of Punjab Pakistan
44% of the people in Pakistan speak Punjabi and it is the most common language in the region. Urdu is also a popular language here. We should make sure that we have people who speak both languages on the ground.
Village Architecture and Housing Conditions
Villages here are usually very compact with most houses centered around a mosque or temple. Houses are normally built very close together and often share walls so if we brought and set up relief tents it would not seem too far fetched to the people here. Houses here usually have ceiling fans and radios so I recommend that we do our best to supply at least some cheap battery powered fans and radios because the people are used to it.
Food
Punjabis generally eat Cereals, vegetables, legumes, and mild products. So we should try to bring forms of those kind of foods to the area because it is what the people are generally used to.
Education
The most reason number we have is from a 1981 census. That census says that 45% of the population under the age of 10 attended school so and I would assume that number has increase since then. I highly recommend that we try and set up one or two tents as a temporary school.
Employment
Most people in Punjab are farmers. This region is one of the most important regions for agricultural in South Asia. To help farmers whose land has been destroyed I propose that we bring in things like Legume and Wheat seeds.
You can look at Punjabi culture in more detail here: http://historypak.com/punjabi-culture/
And here: http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Norway-to-Russia/Punjabis.html
Plan For How We Help
How many people have been displaced?
There are no solid numbers to say how many people have been displaced in the area of Muzaffargarh so the best I can do is estimate the number of people that have been. The population of Muzzafargarh is 3.826 Million as of a 2012 Census. I would assume that 7% of the population was displaced when the floods hit in 2015 which would mean that 267,820 people were displaced in Muzaffargarh. The population data information came from this report: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiTwsOS9YrOAhUGaT4KHacRCrEQFggqMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doi.punjab.gov.pk%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2FMuzaffargarh.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGoarOIaJNn_jhFPn6QDp9H7r_6nw&sig2=KLUtnI82VYy99oUi2vx9XA&bvm=bv.127984354,d.cWw In addition I would assume that the average size of a family is 4 people which would leave lots of room for error since the Fertility Rate of Pakistan is 3.26. That would mean there are 82,153 families we should provide shelter for.
What Supplies Do We Need To Bring And What Will They Cost?
83,000 14' Relief Tents To Accommodate Displaced Families - $24,651,000
20 30' Relief Tents For Schools - $19,800
10,000 pounds of Legume Seeds to help farmers - $40,000
10,000 ponds of Wheat Seeds to help farmers - $9,900
5,000 Solar Powered Generators - $3,180,000
5,000 Water Filtration Systems - $895,000
Total Cost: $28,795,700
I would love to try and provide radios and fans but they quite simply just add too much cost for something that is not desperately needed. I recognize that the cost for this project is very high. The only real way that I could see to lower the cost is to simply provide shelter for a smaller number of people. But I sincerely hope that we can find the money to provide for all the people. The people in Muzzafargarh Pakistan really desperately need the help.